Michele Norris

President Obama made a surprise visit to Iraq Tuesday, telling U.S. Troops that it was time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their own country. Obama also met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who later said he assured the president that progress on security will continue.

New York Gov. David Paterson said Friday at least 12 people were killed in an attack on an immigration-services center in Binghamton, N.Y. News reports say a gunman entered the building while firing, and took hostages.

Rumors that some of the nation's biggest banks might have to be nationalized pushed the Dow Jones industrial average down. The market bounced back a bit after White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration strongly believed in a privately held bank system.

Israel held elections Tuesday and preliminary results show both Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu and Kadima's Tzipi Livni claiming victory. The results are a sign of the difficult coalition government talks to come.

Hillary Clinton has taken charge at the U.S. State Department. The secretary of State named George Mitchell to be a special envoy to the Middle East and Richard Holbrooke to be a representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

US Airways CEO Douglas Parker offered few new details on flight 1549, which crashed into the Hudson River. All the passengers were declared safe, and many were able to walk away once they were rescued.

US Airways Flight 1549 went down in a relatively shallow portion of the Hudson River. The crash site was right next to the ferry boat terminal, and the vessels could be used in the rescue efforts. A witness said everyone got off the plane alive.

President-elect Obama named former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta to head the CIA and retired Adm. Dennis Blair to be national intelligence director.

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to announce his picks for his energy and environment team at a Chicago news conference. Nobel laureate Steven Chu is expected to be Obama's energy secretary; Lisa Jackson is likely to be named the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration have recommend that drugs Serevent and Foradil no longer be used for asthma. Top-selling Advair was not affected by the recommendation.